PrepTest 146, Section 2, Question 1
For the first few weeks after birth, the(61 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(15 more words not shown)
- AThe dunnart's respiratory(9 more words not shown)
- BThe dunnart's body(10 more words not shown)
- CAdult dunnarts experience(13 more words not shown)
- DIts mother's pouch(12 more words not shown)
- ESome dunnarts live(10 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
How does a newborn breathe if it can't control its breathing muscles? The passage gives us an answer: this dunnart takes in air through its thin skin. We can accept that unusual arrangement. The question is how the baby manages without the protection thick skin gives other warm-blooded animals.
What we’re looking for
Isn't it inside its mother's pouch? Perhaps the pouch does the protective work while the baby's skin stays thin enough for breathing. That would explain how the dunnart can get away with something other animals cannot. We're looking for protection against both problems the passage identifies: losing body heat and losing water.
Working the answers
- A
Beginning to develop the muscles doesn't establish that the newborn can already use them to breathe. More importantly, breathing is not the puzzle we're asked to solve. We already know the baby breathes through its skin. We need to explain how it avoids the dangerous heat and water loss that thin skin would otherwise allow.
- B
A higher body temperature doesn't explain how the newborn maintains that temperature. Starting warmer and preventing heat loss are different things. B also gives us no protection against water loss, so it leaves an important part of the problem untouched.
- C
These are adult dunnarts. The question concerns newborns whose skin has not yet thickened. Greater heat and water loss in adults doesn't explain what protects the babies during that vulnerable period.
- DCorrect
The pouch supplies both forms of protection: it keeps the newborn warm and reduces water loss through its skin. The baby can therefore keep the thin skin it needs for breathing without relying on thick skin to do those other jobs. This is the protective role we predicted for the pouch.
- E
Hot daytime conditions might help with warmth during part of the day, but they don't explain how the newborn retains water. A dry climate certainly isn't an explanation of protection against water loss. We need an account of how the thin-skinned baby survives, not just a description of some places dunnarts live.
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